I’m sure many people will be boycotting it anyway, but has anyone else noticed how long it seems to be taking for The Liberal to bring out its latest issue?
Also, they still have a link to their Kennedy Must Go petition on the front page. Hello?
All this does somewhat suggest a bit of a miscalculation by Mr Ramm. The latest issue was to include a feature on why Kennedy ought to resign, which has now obviously been overtaken by events. Despite the fact that I have no doubt their petition had very little impact on Kennedy’s resignation (the pre-New Year press release claiming thousands of signatures was just pathetic, and the media knew it), it was foolish to launch the campaign before bringing out the issue.
The quietness from the Ramm front since the New Year suggests there may be problems at Liberal Towers – I doubt establishment figures like Andrew Motion appreciate getting dragged into nasty political squabbles. It would be a shame if this was the last we saw of the magazine though. I for one feel we have all too publications that are unashamedly liberal, and it would be a shame to lose one, even if I don’t agree with what has been done in its name.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Ramm was on TV recently as a ‘talking head’ responding to the Mark Oaten hiccup.
And on Five Live too.
Christ, I hope the media haven’t decided that Ramm is someone with a finger on the pulse of the party.
I, perhaps rashly, took out a subscription some months ago, and am anxiously awaiting it’s arrival…
The Liberal hasn’t ever managed a regular output.
The website is never up to date, they still have a statement claiming they’re relaunching an anti-ID card campaign in April 2005.
It smacks of disorganisation… I’ve given up waiting for copies to appear.
We do need more unashamably liberal publications, it would be a shame to see it disappear.
Changing the subject (from Tristan’s unashamably liberal publications) – does anyone remember ‘The Reformer’?
Yes. But it’s been killed off by the Centre for Um.
Rumours that they intend to produce their own journal The Ummer, are unfounded I understand.
James, the name “The Ummer” sounds ominous, since it is strikingly similar to UMMO, the name of an alleged planet which is the focus of a UFO cult (established by a Spanish civil servant, Fernando Sesma). UMMO afficionados compose lengthy screeds depicting life on Planet UMMO and send it anonymously to scientists, writers and journalists across the world. The original “UMMO” event was a hoax perpetrated by the Spanish military in the latter days of Franco’s dictatorship. The idea was to launch a balloon disguised as a UFO across Madrid and see if it caused mass panic. (It didn’t. Someone had to fake the photographs because no-one bothered to snap the real thing.) Now, just to sound slightly more sinister, Dr Jacques Vallee claims that some of the European UMMO people are associated with the LaRouche Movement (they’re the ones who say the Duke of Edinburgh is the godfather of the world illegal drugs trade).
Back to “The Liberal”. There just isn’t the market for it. Remember what happened to Greg Thain’s “The Democrat”, back in 1982? The “Spectator” loses money hand over fist, but it is kept alive by its proprietor. If you don’t get cover-to-cover advertising, you have to make your money on the cover price (minus the 50% which goes to the distributor), and that requires mass circulation. Or you have to have a huge subscription base (as BTB publications do). Don’t be surprised if “The Liberal” sinks without trace like many before it.
Indeed, it still lists me as the ‘go-to guy’ on the ID card campaign when I resigned over the Kennedy issue some time ago. Not t
I’d really press them to take that bit down then, I’d assumed you were complicit with the petition as a result of seeing you on the site- while you deserve kudos for quitting over it instead.
i took out a subscription a year ago and have received nothing this year!!